Bus without a conductor

Last weekend, I was flipping through the pages of my husband’s old journal. No, I was not sneaking... He was sitting right next to me J. I was reading in random. One of the journal entries caught my attention. This one was about a bus without a conductor. I was particularly fascinated because I’ve never been in one. However, as a kid, I used to imagine what would happen if the bus leaves before the conductor boards the bus.

My husband used to commute to office by bus. That morning, he had boarded the public bus at the busstand, to get to his office – close to 1.5 hours of travel ahead. Driver got into the bus, started it and drove a few kilometres, without realising the conductor hadn’t boarded the bus. After a while, the passengers from the back of the bus started shouting to the driver that there was no conductor! Baffled (probably also embarrassed), the driver stopped the bus, asked the passengers to get down and take a different bus to their respective destinations. He must have driven back to the busstand or waited there for the conductor to come! What more can be done in a bus without a conductor?

How often, we act like we don’t need anyone to run our lives! We think we can direct our own lives. Like a bus without a conductor can’t fulfil its purpose, life without Christ (Who is the very purpose of our living) cannot fulfil its purpose.

“... all things were created by Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16b)

Looking for Signs?

It was a moment of ecstasy for King Solomon. “He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.” (I Kings 3:15b) Who wouldn’t be delighted after such an encounter with God? God appears to Solomon in a dream and asks him what he wants. You would know the rest of the story. Solomon asks God for wisdom. God is pleased with his request and grants him not only wisdom, but also riches and honour. (I Kings 3:5 – 15) Don’t we wish something similar would happen to us? We all like to experience God in a supernatural way. Of course, God does reveal Himself supernaturally to specific people in specific circumstances. Based on what? We do not know. But, it would be a mistake to measure ‘our righteousness’ based on such experiences. It is wrong to think “because I did something good, God gives me visions.”

Moreover, supernatural experiences do not guarantee obedience. “The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.” (I Kings 11:9). Or take the example of the Israelites. They rebelled against God though they witnessed miracles every day of their journey to the Promised Land.

The rich man about whom we read in Luke 16:19 – 31 thought his brothers would repent if someone from the dead tells them the Gospel. But he was wrong! “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” (vs. 31) All that we need to know are already revealed in the Word of God!

Others look for signs and wonders to test God. We know Jesus’ reply to that: “A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” (Matthew 16:4a)

Paul describes his supernatural experiences in II Corinthians 12:1-5. But, he chooses to boast in his weakness rather than in visions and revelations.

It is good to have supernatural experiences. But, our basis remains the Word of God and obeying His commands. “Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11:28)

Tested and Blessed

You have 100% attendance for your classes. You’ve learnt your lessons. You even stand a chance of being the gold medallist. But, if you don’t appear for the exams, there’s no way you can even earn your degree. Without clearing your exams, you can’t move on to the next class. Neither can we mature in life unless we clear ‘tests’.

I believe God uses trials and tests as a means to bless us. That’s what we read in James 1:12. It says, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.”

Need an example? Read Job 1:8. Note that Satan did not come up with the idea and ask for God’s approval. God offers the suggestion. Why not Job? Soon, Job lost all that he could – wealth, health, children, true friends, and loved ones. He really had a hard time. It’s scary to even imagine ourselves in his shoes. But wait, the story didn’t end there! God blessed the later part of his life more than the first (Job 42:10-16). When God handed all of Job’s possessions over to Satan (Job 1:12), and when Satan decided to do the best job with what God just handed over to him, Satan perhaps had no clue of what is to come. But God had this later part is mind when he asked Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?” Job seems to have got this right when he said, "when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10) You have seen Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. (James 5:11)

Abraham also had to pass his test before he could be credited as the ‘father of faith’. His test? He had to lay down his only son, the one he loved (Gen 22:1, 2). He was willing to do that, just because of his simple trust and obedience. And the result? First, his son was saved. (Gen 22: 12) Then, his blessings confirmed. (Gen 22: 16, 17)

If you are going through trials and tests – which I am sure you are or you will – that’s just one more reason to rejoice! (James 1:2 – 4) If you are tested, you are going to be blessed. “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith -- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire -- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed." (I Peter 1:6,7)

Whatever You Do....

Have you ever felt that hours of hard work do not pay off? You are not looking for applause, but you just want acceptance. I’ve been through it – when I work on an article for weeks and it gets dumped, when I work so passionately on an idea and it gets scraped, when I spend sleepless nights to come up with a perfect design, but someone else’s design is preferred. I do it all ‘for God’, but so much of my time and effort is wasted and that disappoints me! I’m sure you have a similar story to tell.

But such situations only clarify our motives. I learnt that I need not get my article published in order to glorify God. Whether it is published or dumped, I can still glorify God by working wholeheartedly and sincerely.

We read in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” “Whatever you do” implies whatever you do irrespective of whether it is accepted or rejected, appreciated or criticised, noticed or unnoticed, whether it is an ‘important’ task or a ‘trivial’ one.

When we work as working for the Lord and not for men, we only need to be concerned about the process, not about the result. You don’t have to feel bad when your idea is not accepted. For God, it does not matter whether your idea is a ‘success’ or a ‘failure’. He is more concerned about the heart. So, your time and effort is not really wasted. After all, you haven’t lost your heavenly reward yet!

Me and My World Clock

I finally got it yesterday. A world clock. Not that I wanted or needed one. However, it is good to have one, because there was no clock on my desk. About a month back, I was one of the lucky winners to win a world clock as a prize. The prize was for playing an online game initiated by Cognizant. Well, that’s besides the point. When I got a mail saying that I have won a world clock, I did not really know what to expect. When the time came for me to retrieve the prize, I had to bother a few friends to get it to me. When it finally reached my hands, I carefully unwrapped it. The clock was in two parts. Common sense told me how to put them together. I did. It looked pretty good. But, the main function of the clock? To display time! It didn’t look like the clock was displaying time. The batteries were in place. The display was working. I know I have to set the time. But how? There are only three buttons on that clock. I tried to figure out how it worked. A few friends did too. We got nowhere. All three buttons seemed to function the same way! Let alone world time; I wanted at least the local time displayed on it.

Meanwhile, here’s what was going on in my mind... “Now, that clock only deserves to sit on my desk like a showpiece. Anyway, I didn’t pay anything for it. So, I’m not really losing anything. Hold on! It looks high-class. It’s Cognizant-branded. I’m sure there’s a way to make it work. May be there is. But what’s the use? I can never figure it out myself! It’s probably going to remain unused. How I wish there was a user manual!”

I gave up trying, put the clock on my desk and continued doing my work. A few people who saw it on my desk tried to figure out how it works. No success! Then I tried Google. No progress again. I was disappointed. When it was time to leave for the day and I was packing up my things, I dismantled the clock and packed it back the way it was. Whoa!! There it was – a manual. I was so excited. Yippee! I was going to figure out how it works. On my way back from work, I started reading the manual. There was so much I could do with it – view the time of 25 different cities, set 3 alarms, use the countdown, the timer and a few other options. That’s when I realised I could never have done any of that without the manual. I was so glad there was a user manual. As I used the manual, I had no difficulty following the steps. After doing it a few times, I can now set the time or set an alarm without referring to the manual for the steps. Now, it’s a functional world clock on my desk.

I couldn’t help but think how it is very similar with life. We try this and that. We think we are doing the right. But we don’t seem to get anywhere. Certain things work well with common sense. But there are a lot of things in life that we can understand only when we read our life’s manual. You wish there is something like that? There is! Don’t know where? Read the Bible. That indeed gives the whole perspective to life. Unless you know what life is all about, you will remain like an unused showpiece sitting pretty, not doing what you were really created to do!

2010 - Top 3 Lessons

I thought of briefly sharing the top three lessons I learnt in 2010.

1. I’ve been reading and studying the Bible ever since I accepted Jesus as my Saviour. At the beginning of this year, we were given a one-year Bible reading plan and we were asked to follow it. Initially, I was not very convinced about the idea of reading the Bible in one year, because I was used to studying smaller portions of the Scripture for my daily devotions. However, I started following this plan ‘out of compulsion’:) But, as I started reading more, I found that I started loving the Word of God more than ever. Memorising Scripture became easier than ever. Going forward, I started realizing that I have been following some ‘Christian’ traditions, listening to some ‘Christian’ messages and singing certain ‘Christian’ songs that are not really Biblical. I also learnt the importance of checking with the Bible if what preachers preach and authors write are based on the Bible. (Acts 17:11) Also, there is no use in just reading, meditating and studying the Word of God. What ultimately matters is putting it into practice. Blessed are those who obey what the Scripture says. (Psalm 119:1,2,9; James 1:22 - 25)

2.I learnt a lot about work this year and the Lord has helped me to change my attitude towards work. I had to learn this in a difficult situation. Our team was going through a lot of pressure for a few months. In that situation, most of my colleagues decided to resign their jobs and they did. I was also tempted to do that:) But the Lord wonderfully strengthened me through His Word. Every morning, when I would be worried and confused about facing the day, I was lead to verses that meant so much to me in that situation. I even remember praying that God would not take me through this tough time. I somehow wanted to escape. But now, looking back I am grateful to God for taking me through those difficult times. (Heb 12:11) Here are a few things I learnt about work: Eph 6: 5-8, Col 3:22-24, Eccl 3:22, Romans 13:1-7, Phil 2:14-15, I Peter 2:13-21.

(I urge you to take the time and read these verses)

3. Another major lesson I learnt this year is about trials. Of course, I learnt it through trials! This is the passage I am often reminded of: James 1:2-5. This is how we are commanded to respond to trials: rejoice! (I Peter 1:6,7) Blessed are we when we persevere under trials (James 1:12). We need to follow Jesus’ example of enduring trials (Heb 12:1-11) It is through trials that we are made stronger.

Thanks to be to God for His Grace that keeps us going.

The One

The One Who holds the sun and the stars is the One Who holds my future.
He is never late.

The One Who rules the universe with His word is the One Who ordained my days.
He is never chaotic.

The One Who painted the skies and coloured the flowers is the One Who formed me.
He is never out of ideas.

The One Who feeds the birds and clothes the plants is the One Who protects me.
He is never careless.

The One Who can’t stand the sight of sin is the One Who paid for my sin.
He is very gracious.

The One Who died in my place is the One Who overcame death.
He is very loving.

The One Who owns everything is the One Who became nothing for me.
He is very generous.

The One Way, Truth and the Life is the One Who longs for your love and mine.
I can’t but fall in love with You, Jesus!